John Isner’s 17th career ATP final will be Yen-Hsun Lu’s first. Isner and Lu are set to battle for the Auckland title on Saturday in advance of the Australian Open.
John Isner and Yen-Hsun Lu will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they clash in the Heineken Open final on Saturday afternoon. Their only previous meeting came in the 2011 Atlanta quarterfinals, with Isner dominating 6-1, 6-2.
Lu, however, has been the class of this tournament. The world No. 62 from Chinese Taipei has dropped only a single set in victories over Igor Sijsling, Bradley Klahn, Steve Johnson, and three-time defending champion David Ferrer. Lu, who also played last week in Chennai, has not lost a match this season (he beat Tim Smyczek in Chennai before withdrawing).
Isner’s path to the title match has been far more treacherous. The third-seeded American required three sets in all of his wins, over Lukas Lacko, Philipp Kohlschreiber, and Roberto Bautista Agut. Isner’s 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 7-6(5) triumph at Kohlschreiber’s expense featured zero breaks of serve and Bautista Agut served for the match at 6-3, 5-4 only to see Isner storm back.
The world No. 14 is still dealing with an ankle injury stemming from the Hopman Cup and he clearly favored it despite managing to survive against both Kohlschreiber and Bautista Agut. That, combined with Lu’s stellar form, should make this one a contest and bring an upset into the realm of possibility. However, this is Lu’s first career ATP final whereas Isner has advanced to this stage on 16 previous occasions and has won seven titles.
Pick: Isner in 3
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WTF was that? Some pregame ceremony of a bunch of crazy looking girls shouting at both players?
that was the New Zealand dance. You should see the All Blacks do it.
wow what a shot at championship point
that was unbelievable
Lu was awesome the entire week. Deserved to win it all, but Isner–as always–was too mentally tough and had too much serve.